


The Summer Before

by sleeponrooftops



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-01
Updated: 2010-12-01
Packaged: 2017-10-31 08:03:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/341802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeponrooftops/pseuds/sleeponrooftops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The choice was between a life disowned from her family or a life in absolute and reckless love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Right and Wrong

This is the story of the summer before everything changed, the summer before Lord Voldemort began collecting his followers, the summer before I, Andromeda Black, married Ted Tonks, and the summer before Owen Scabior left my life forever.

 

Ted was always the right guy for me.  He was predictable, dependable, reliable; all the things any girl should want in a girl.  He was there everytime I needed him or wanted his comfort.  He always was ready to hold me up and let me cry on his shoulder.  He took me to Madame Puddifoot’s Tea Shop every Valentine’s Day since our fourth year when he first asked me out on a date, he bought me a present for every year we’d been together, and all of my friends loved him.  We were a match made in heaven.  Of course, I was in Slytherin and he was in Hufflepuff, but I’d always belonged beyond the chilly dungeons and rude attitudes.  We fit perfectly from day one, when we first sat together in Potions our third year and worked diligently together.

 

He got good grades, _very_ good grades.  He was in the top five of his class in almost everything, and he always helped me with my homework.  He kept me in on school nights, didn’t ask where I was on weekend nights, and he woke me every morning for breakfast with a soft kiss and a handsome smile.  He was attractive, too, with delicate chocolate curls that were cut in a fashionably short manner.  He had matching brown eyes that sparkled with intellect and the joy of learning.  He lived in the library a lot of the time, unless he was spending it wandering around with me, arm in arm, chatting idly.  He was well-built, and he took great care of himself.  He was incredibly healthy, rarely drank Butterbeer, and never bought sweets.

 

Ted kept me grounded, kept my head on straight, and was there to pull back my hair the first time I tried Firewhisky.  His parents adored me, and his mother had even given him her engagement ring to give me, but I’m not supposed to know that.  My parents, however, had no clue that I was dating a Muggle-born.  Had they known, I’d be immediately disowned and marked as a disgrace.  No, the right choice in my dear mother’s eyes was Owen, born from a respectable pure-blood family.

 

They weren’t rich like Ted’s family was, but they certainly weren’t struggling either.  Owen’s parents were travelers, and often used to leave Owen with us during the summer and winter break when he was younger.  By fifteen, however, he kept to his house and only visited occasionally.  We’d always been best friends, Owen and I, and he was like my other half.

 

I was never what Ted wanted, but always what he loved.  He fell in love with the fourteen-year-old me, and grew to accept the seventeen-year-old me.  I’d always been crazy, though.  Owen introduced me to Firewhisky and the likes by fifteen, and he showed me all the secret passageways that he knew of, one that even led to Honeydukes.  He let me unleash the side that Ted stowed away and kept secret.  Therefore, it was only a matter of time before I suddenly wasn’t around on Saturday and Sunday night.

 

And _God_ was he good-looking.  He was tall and thin, but with muscles that I loved to trace when we lay together.  He wore crazy plaid pants on the weekends, classy leather vests, collared shirts, and his favorite black leather trench coat.  He was always stylish, with his curly, crazy brown hair falling all over the place before it fell into a braid.  He had a thick red streak in his hair, the result of too many wrong Charms, but it suited him perfectly.

 

Ted would hold my hand and walk me to class, he would ask the questions I was too nervous to voice in a lecture, and he would always work beside me.  Owen would pull me around a corner and lock us in an empty room twenty minutes before class, and we’d wrap together and fly to a world of bliss.  Together, Ted and Owen made up the perfect and most ideal boyfriend for one Andromeda Black.

 

Ted fondly called me Dromeda before the first time we made love.  We never did anything but that our seventh year.  We never did what Owen and I did, never were crazy.  Owen moaned my name, only once, everytime, and it never ceased to send shivers up my spine.  The whole name, all four syllables.  When we flirted and kissed in secret, he’d shorten it to Andy and tease me with the want for more.

 

I never intentionally cheated on Ted.  I remember the first night it happened clearly.  Friday, and Ted was determined to stay in and do homework, as always.  I’d been begging him for weeks to go out on a Friday, just to have one fun night.  We’d done it a few times, in the four years we’d been together, and we’d both always had fun.  But he steadfastly refused every Friday night for two months.

 

“Go out with a friend, Andy,” he said in anger, using the name only Owen could.

 

  1. He saw me a mile away, and was already circling down by the time I was reaching the bleachers.



 

“It’s too cold, beautiful,” he purred in my ear, taking my hand and leading me away.

 

We always wanted to date, _always_ , but there was always Ted.  Every part of me adored Ted, always wanted to be with him, wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but that same part of me pined for Owen, desperate for the way he would love me.  I’d always been torn, always had loved both, always wanted both.  Owen gave me a choice that night.

 

“So dump him,” he said, shrugging, after listening to my sob story about how boring he was.

 

“I love him, Owen,” I mumbled, watching him put away his broom in the locker room.

 

I don’t know how it happened.  I tell myself he bent down to comfort me and give me one of those cheer-up smiles and that, instead of doing that, he kissed me, but, in reality, it was just a cheer-up smile, and I was the one who kissed him.  He never stopped me, not until we were nearly naked on one of the benches.

 

“Let’s date.  In secret,” he whispered, kissing me delicately, “You can still date Ted.  You’ll have the best of both worlds.”

 

And then he brought me away from everything and we _loved_.

 

And it worked.  For two years, it worked.  He was my first, and I his, and we were more passionate than any couple I’d ever seen.  The three of us, Ted, Owen, and I would walk down the halls together on our way to class, and Ted would loop his arm around my back, and I’d hook my pinky in Owen’s discreetly.  We were reckless and dangerous, but we loved every second of it.

 

Whenever I asked him if it bugged him, he begged me not to break up with Ted, not to ruin my life.  He demanded that he was bad for me, that Ted kept me good, and I always listened to him.  It was only two months before school ended that I really hated my choice of being with Ted.

 

“This summer,” Owen murmured, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, “Let’s go away.”

 

We were in the Room of Requirements, sprawled out on a bed, nude under our blankets, and curled close.

 

“Let’s go to Ireland.  I’ve been before with my parents.  It’s beautiful, just like you.  You’d love it,” he continued, and it only took a few more sweet kisses and a gasp to convince me.

 

The very next morning, Ted cleared his throat at breakfast.  We’d sat together since our sixth year, at the Slytherin table, and no one minded it.  He carefully stood up, and I turned, bewildered.

 

“Where are you going?” I asked, eyes following his movements.

 

 _He got down on one knee_.  I think that’s where my heart plummeted and Owen tightened his grip on my hand.  We always held hands at breakfast.  No one ever knew.

 

And then he proposed, right there in front of everyone.  And I had no choice to but to be excited, and I was.  I was ecstatic, thrilled.  I _loved_ Ted, always had, always would.  Walking away from breakfast that morning, however, I was reminded of last night.

 

“Ted,” I began, pulling him to a stop, “I’m not going to be in Britain this summer.”

 

His face fell, and he blinked a few times, “Where are you going?”

 

“Ireland.  Some of my family lives over there.  I’ve always wanted to go.  It seemed like a perfect time.”

 

He nodded, and, of course, he understood.

 

“Go.  Have fun.  At least we have these last two months together, and then you’ll be mine forever.”

 

He was always a romantic, something that made me adore him more and more with every second.  But, as we walked toward class, I smirked over my shoulder at Owen, and he winked, disappearing around a corner.  This would be our last summer together.


	2. Escape and Goodbyes

We left the day after we graduated Hogwarts and went home.  I didn’t tell my parents, just left a note on their door and slipped away in the night.  Owen had some spectacular ideas planned, ones that I wouldn’t forget for the rest of my life.

 

He was waiting outside his house when I arrived by broom, and we apparated into the night, hands clasped tightly together.  Our backpacks were charmed, our brooms stuffed into them, and we carried luggage for two months.  When we arrived, safely and with ease, he turned, pressed his lips to my mouth, and whispered for me to close my eyes.  Dawn was just breaking when we finally stopped walking, and he nudged me.

 

Before me was an _adorable_ cottage with cobblestone walls, a blue slated roof, a chimney, a gorgeous garden, and a wide expanse of rolling green and mountains surrounding us.

 

“We can hide here, anytime we need to get away.  It’s ours,” he whispered in my ear before kissing me on the cheek, and tugging me forward.

 

“Ours?” I repeated as he opened the door to the perfect little home.

 

“Ours.  It was my parents, and I talked to them.  They gave it to me, as part of my inheritance, just early.  It’s ours.”

 

I would love him for the rest of my life, if simply because of this.

 

\--

 

_June 16 th._

We were lying under the brilliant sunlight, fingers interlaced, in only the bare essentials when I decided to darken the mood.

 

“What’s going to happen to us after this, Owen?”

 

He was silent for a long time, clean-shaven face turned toward the sun and blue eyes closed to the harsh rays.  I watched him resting soundly, the way his chest rose and fell gracefully, and he could’ve been asleep if not for the murmur of his lips, and I knew he was forming, in his head, the things he would say in response.

 

Finally, after many minutes of stillness, he turned his eyes to me, “We’ll be apart.”

 

I nodded.  That was the answer I expected, but not the one I wanted.

 

“You’re getting married,” he continued, trying his best to explain, “I’ll work for this Dark Lord.  You’ll promise me that you’ll stay out of his line of sight, and I’ll promise you that I’ll stay safe.”

 

“Pinky promise?”

 

“Of course, sweetie.”

 

He kissed our hands, sealing the deal, and we continued to doze in the sun.  We stayed there for another hour and a half, making small talk and laughing together, before he sighed and sat up.

 

“C’mon, I’ve got something to show you.”

 

We traveled by broom during the day, high in the sky, small as birds, and we enjoyed the landscape.  Ireland was beautiful; I easily could’ve lived here forever with him.  It took two hours to get wherever he wanted, but it was well worth the wait.

 

A beautiful, cascading waterfall crashed into a sparkling blue pool, surrounded by wild flowers, spiraling trees, and never-touched ground.  We jumped from small cliffs, we splashed in the water, we made faces at the fishes, we made passionate love three times, in the pool, in the grass in the sunlight, in the very edges of the water.  We napped in a tree while our clothes dried, we sang to the birds, we picked wild berries and threw them at each other, we swam right underneath the fall and nearly drowned.  We found a landing that wound around the backside of the fall and led to a cave.  We spent two days there, and we only returned out of hunger.

 

Owen and I did everything in that hidden place of beauty.  We claimed it our own, carving our initials in random trees, leaving things in our cave, making friends with every different fish there was.

 

The day it rained, one week after we found the cave and the fall, we ran screaming outside until we slipped in mud and threw it at each other.

 

“Dirty girl,” Owen laughed, spraying me with the hose a half hour later.

 

Once we’d both gotten the mud off of us, I sat, huddled in my cold clothes as he drew a bath.  The water looked hot even from here, just the right kind of hot.  He grew bubbles, lit candles, poured wine.  He was the greatest romantic.

 

We cuddled close in the bath, and I relished in the warmth seeping into my pores.  He held me close, stroked my back gently, and kissed me on the forehead every once in a while.  We didn’t talk, just lay and loved, and I wanted to never leave him.

 

\--

 

_July 2 nd._

 

“I have to go out, babe,” Owen murmured one morning, touching my nose with a kiss, “You’ll be alright for a couple of hours, yea?”

 

“Just a couple?” I queried, turning the page in the newspaper.

 

“Well, probably a little longer.  I’ve got some business to take care of.”

 

 _Business._ I hated that word, because I knew what it meant.

 

“Where are you going?” I asked more carefully, looking up at him with stern eyes.

 

“Just a meeting with Cissy and Lucius,” he cooed, kissing me on the lips delicately, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

He didn’t leave me any choice, for he was already out the door before I tried to argue.  I ate breakfast alone until an owl appeared at the window, a careful letter attached to its leg.  Curious, I unfolded it, only to fall back into my seat, soft tears glistening on my cheeks.

 

_My dearest Dromeda,_

_This past month has been hellish without you by my side.  I never before noticed how dearly I loved your company and companionship until you weren’t there.  My mother was so excited when she heard of the engagement.  She’s already got a million ideas for the wedding.  I was thinking maybe we could have it in September when you get back?  When are you getting back, by the way?  I think I remember you saying August, but I’m not entirely sure I’m right._

_Heavens know I miss you.  Every day I don’t get to see your beautiful face and kiss those adorably pouty lips of yours makes me yearn for you even more.  I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again and wrap you in my love.  Soon, my darling, soon, we will be one again._

_I feel you in my heart every day, thumping right there beside me.  I want to spend the rest of eternity with you, Andromeda.  I never have loved someone as much as I adore you.  They say adoration is such a strong emotion, and I know that what I feel for you is stronger than anything._

_I hope you’re well, and tell your family that I say hello!  I love you very much, my sweet._

_Always yours,_

_Ted_

It was times like these that I remembered why I was marrying Ted and leaving Owen…

 

\--

 

It was late when he returned, nearing dusk, and I was pacing in worry when the door finally opened.

 

“Where have you been?” I shouted, stopping and glaring at him.

 

“I told you,” he laughed, closing the distance between us and trying to kiss me.

 

“No!” I yelled, pushing him in the chest, “You said you wouldn’t be gone too long!  You said it was just a meeting!”

 

“Baby,” he tried to comfort, rubbing my arms, “It went a little longer.  There were many things to be discussed.  I’m sorry, okay?”

 

I just shook my head and turned away, angry.

 

“Look, Andy, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be gone so long.  Can you forgive me?”

 

I answered with a kiss.  This seemed to be a trend with Owen and me.  We fought, and then we fucked.  I didn’t mind it because I loved the way he made me feel, but, after Ted’s letter, it left me feeling uneasy.

 

He noticed.

 

“Is everything okay?” he asked as we lay together, somewhat out of breath and I wrapped in his arms.

 

“I got a letter today, from Ted,” I added slowly, “I just miss him sometimes.  It was so much easier when we were still in school, when I could have both of you.”

 

“This was kind of my way of trying to convince you,” Owen suddenly laughed, shaking his head, “Obviously it didn’t work.”

 

“Convincing me of what?” I snapped, pushing myself up on my elbows.

 

“That you belonged with me even though I knew you didn’t.  I just love you.  I always have, always will.  It’s going to be hard to watch you walk away at your wedding.”

 

“Oh, Owen,” I sighed, falling back into him, “Hold me forever.”

 

“Of course, darling.”

 

And we faded off, sleeping well into the next day.

 

_July 28 th._

“Say goodbye,” Owen murmured, rubbing his thumb against my skin, “You’ll never see this with me again.”

 

I gulped, acknowledging this fact, but hating him for saying it aloud.

 

“Am I saying goodbye to you, too?”

 

“Not just yet,” he promised, tightening his grip for only a moment, “You’ll see me a few more times before it’s all over.  The wedding is the first week of September, yea?  I can manage that.  C’mon, we have to go.  Do you have everything?”

 

“Yes,” I lied, thinking of all the things I’d left behind in the cottage, things I never wanted to see again, things that would remind me of him forever.

 

The shirt I wore to our waterfall that very first time was still folded in the second drawer of my dresser, the blanket we huddled in the first time we made love in the cave was still folded at the end of the bed, and a box of rose petals lay open on the top of the dresser.  A journal I’d kept while we were here, documenting everything, still sat at my desk; I’d started it thinking that I would look back someday and fall in love all over again.  I never wanted to read it again.  Every picture we took was still hung up with clothes pins around the kitchen, waving merrily and smiling cheerily.  The guitar he played to me every other night, the tunes of sweet lullabies, and the kisses that followed, they were locked away behind that door, to be forgotten.

 

“Yes,” I said again, convincing myself and turning away, “Can we go now?”

 

“I’ll drop you off at your house, down the street.  I’ll wait until you get inside, okay?”

 

“Alright,” I said, swallowing another lie.  I had to do this.

 

If he’d never written that letter, I could have walked happily between the two loves of my life forever.  But he had to write that letter and remind me.

 

When we arrived down the street from my house, Owen turned me, touching my lips delicately with his forefinger.

 

“I’m never going to forget you,” he promised, kissing me on the forehead, “Okay?”

 

I nodded, tears prickling in the corners of my eyes, “I love you, Owen Scabior, and I always will,” I whispered, leaning up and kissing him longingly.

 

It was short, and beautiful.

 

“I love you, too, Andromeda Black,” he returned before releasing my hand.

 

I took in a deep breath, put my back to him, and disapparated.  He’d never know.


	3. Death Eaters and Cake

I spent August in fake happiness.  I put on a smile everytime Ted kissed me, and I pushed Owen out of my mind everytime Ted touched me.  I pretended excitement just to placate his mother with the wedding plans, and it seemed like the last month of summer came and went without a thought otherwise.  I only tried once to go back, to see what had happened to me.

 

The night before my wedding, sleeping in a separate bedroom from Ted because that was Muggle custom, I apparated to the cottage.  I could picture it perfectly in my mind, every little detail, and I knew the landscape well.  But, as many times as I tried, apparating from place to place, I couldn’t find it.  It was as if we never existed.  It was as if my memories were gone, dead.

 

The next morning, the butterflies I’d waited for, the giggles I’d prayed for, the happiness I’d wished for finally returned and I was running about in a crazed bliss right up until the moment they zipped me into my gorgeous white dress.  It was simple, and it was the one thing that reminded me of him.  It was strapless with a red sash tied around my middle and falling into the white folds in the back.  I had red gloves to match, pulled up my thin arms, and I wore no jewelry.  My black hair fell in beautiful curls around me, only parts of it pinned back to keep it out of my face.

 

And, as I walked down the red carpet that led me to Ted Tonks, my husband, I was passionately in love.  I remember little about the ceremony; even while it was happening, I didn’t notice it.  I just saw the way Ted looked at me, and I’d never seen him so happy, so handsome, so _in love_.  His joy emanated off of him and infected the room.  People were crying halfway through.

 

The priest motioned for the rings, and I lowered my gaze for only a moment, a moment that pierced my heart.  I looked down at the carpet, so red and royal.  I followed its length to the doors as a little boy passed around us with a pillow in his hands, two rings on it.  A pair of black combat boots shuffled at the end of the carpet, and I lost my breath.  Plaid pants followed along with a white collared shirt tucked into the pants, a worn brown vest, and a black trench coat.

 

I never looked him in the eye.  I turned right back around to Ted and promised my heart to him.

 

\--

 

_June, 1998_

“Have you seen the news, dear?” Rosemerta asked as she set down my food and drink.

 

“I haven’t.  Anything interesting?”

 

“Just the usual.  I had an extra copy, just in case you were interested,” she said with a wink, lowering the paper next to the glass.

 

Rosemerta always knew what had happened during my sixth and seventh year, always knew what I went through with Ted and him, and I’ll blame her lack of knowledge of what happened after for why she thought I’d be interested in the news today.

 

**“SNATCHERS”**

“They’re better off known as abusers of power, evil wrongdoers, life stealers,” Half-blood Terry Lunks ranted two days before she disappeared.  It seems You-Know-Who has gathered a new following known as “Snatchers” to help aid in his purifying of the wizarding world.  Known “Snatchers” are pictured:

 

The first was Fenrir Greyback.  Nothing unusual.  The next three were unrecognizable, at least to me.  I turned the page, glancing away to sip my drink, but, when I looked back, my heart stopped.

 

A pair of black combat boots stretched over tight brown and black plaid pants, those held up by a black studded belt.  A white collared shirt peeked out from underneath a very worn brown vest, buttoned against a handsome, well-built chest.  A black trench coat, lightened with weather and wear hung over broad shoulders, and a red cloth was tied around the man’s left arm like the rest of the Snatchers.  A fingerless glove covered his left hand while an animal’s skull adorned his right hand as a ring.  A dirty-looking brown scarf wrapped around an unshaven neck, and messy, crazy hair fell around a beautiful face only to be tied back in a braid down his back.  Soft blue eyes stared out from an angular face, and thin lips smirked in disgust.

 

“Scabior appears as the leader of this band of Snatchers, second-in-command being Greyback,” read the caption.

 

Owen.

 

Everything about him screamed discomfort.  The way his eyebrows dipped just a little, the way his smirk was slightly off, the way his eyes pleaded.  This wasn’t what my Owen had come to, this wasn’t what he deserved, to be listed in the Daily Prophet as wanted, as a danger.  What had happened to him?

 

I left some coins on the table to cover my untouched meal and I was disapparating out of Hogsmeade before Rosemerta even made it out of her door to call for me and wonder what was wrong.

 

When I arrived home, Ted was running around, throwing things into a bag.

 

“I have to go,” he said in a rush, “They’re out looking for all the Muggle-borns.  I can’t risk being here anymore.  I’m endangering you.”

 

“Ted!” I exclaimed, pulling him to a halt, “You can’t leave.  What are you thinking?”

 

“Dromeda,” he sighed, “I can’t stay here.  You’ll get hurt.  I can’t let that happen.  Not to you and my Dora.  I have to leave.”

 

“Ted, no,” I pleaded, following him as he pulled away and continued on his rant, “Ted, please, don’t do this to me.”

 

“Andy, I’ll come back, I promise, but, for now, I have to leave.  I have to protect you.”

 

The nickname stung, but I ignored it.

 

“Why now?” I demanded, standing in front of the door.

 

“They know, baby.  They _know_.”

 

“Know what?” I exclaimed, putting up a hand as he tried to walk toward me, “Know what, exactly?”

 

“I don’t know, but they know something.  And they’re going to come here looking for me.  Your friend, that Snatcher, he showed up in the kitchen, panicking, and he told me everything, said that they’d gone to Bella and she’d almost collapsed in hysteria, she was so excited.  She told them exactly where to find us, the bitch.  He said something about a journal and a cottage, and then he disapparated again.  But I have to go.  I can’t let them find me here, not with you, not with Dora.  I already spoke with Cissy.  She said that she’d protect you, that she would vouch that you two had been friends all this time.  Okay, baby?  Okay?”

 

He was asking more for himself, and I had no choice but to nod.

 

“Come back to me,” I whispered, pulling him close and holding onto him tightly, “Don’t leave me here alone.”

 

“I love you, Andromeda.  I’ll see you soon, I promise.”

 

And he kissed me goodbye and was gone.

 

\--

 

_November, 1998._

The last time I saw Owen was the day I found out about Ted’s death.  He knocked on my door, and I opened it in shock, staring widely at him.  He said nothing, just pulled Ted’s wand out of his pocket and handed it to me.

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, leaning forward and kissing me on the cheek, “I never meant to hurt you.  I tried to stop them, but.  This always was my path.  I’m going to turn myself in after this is all over.  I’ll spend forever dreaming of you.  I love you, Andy.”

 

And, in only half a year, I’d lost both loves of my life, never to be whole again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. That didn’t end as it was going to, but, well, I guess I kind of expected it to end sadly. Hm. I’m glad I got my little Andy/Scabior thing out of my system. Check out Unforgivable, my Dramione, if you haven’t already! Thank you, and don’t forget to review!

**Author's Note:**

> So. Andy has always been one of my favorite characters, as anyone who’s read Broken will surely know. I seem to have this fondness for her and Cissy, though I’m not sure whatever brought that on. Bella, well. Let’s just say all the fondness I feel toward Cissy and Andy is nothing in comparison to the contempt I feel for Bella. But! I love Andy, and movie!Scabior just gave me chills. Gosh, he was handsome. So, I decided I’d give them a little romance, just for the hell of it. I know this is very informational, but this is just a prologue to what’s to come. Don’t worry, the next ones will be longer and more into the actual story. Thank you for reading, and please review, :)


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